Another year another NYE trip with my college friends. This years destination – LA! It’s been a new tradition with my group of friends to travel somewhere for NYE and honestly it’s been my favorite New Years Eve’s by far! No pressure to go to bars, or try to figure out who is hosting a party. It’s just you, your best friends and a cool landscape! Last year we went to Breckenridge, CO so this year we decided to head somewhere a little bit warmer!

The first day we were in LA we grabbed some beers at Universal studios before heading to our Air BNB in the Hollywood Hills. I really didn’t envision us ending up in such a touristy spot – but it ended up working out perfectly because we were all lugging our suitcases around which is totally acceptable there.

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After that we headed to our Airbnb! If you are traveling in a big group I highly recommend renting an Airbnb so you have communal spaces where you can all hang out and be together! The exact house we stayed at was HERE. Overall it was a great spacious place, but the people who stayed there before us had smoked some SERIOUS amounts of weed, and the kitchen wasn’t exactly as described (aka not a full service kitchen.. there were no pot holders which proved to be tricky when trying to make Lasagne) but it was perfect for what we used it for!

The house had a hot tub which we spent a lot of time in because… unbeknown to me and my lack of checking the weather – LA Is actually quite chilly this time of year, although my guy friends in the background might make you think otherwise.

The house was also really close to a few trailheads to hike up to the Hollywood sign.. which is a pretty hard hike! You have been warned – oh and there are no bathrooms around – so don’t drink too much water before or you will be cringing in pain the whole way down like I was…but so worth it for the views!

On NYE we threw a party at the house and even had a few extra college friends who were in the area stop over to say hi (Thanks Christine!)

When New Years Day rolled around I was excited I decided to stay a few extra days to explore the city (and was so happy not to be flying – I’m not quite the party girl I was in college). Below are the areas I was able to see in my few extra days in the city!

Beverly Hills

You can’t go to LA without going to Beverly Hills. First stop was the Beverly Hills hotel and WOW – what a place! The wealth there is crazy – every car is one I could only dream of driving (imagine kids that looked like they were 12 driving around in Range Rovers and Bentleys) and rooms are like $700 a night – so clearly I just went to check out the property… but maybe some day.

Next we strolled around Rodeo Drive – again a place where I can’t afford anything but still such a fun place to walk around and grab lunch!

We stopped for lunch at the Butcher and got a delicious chicken sandwich!

Next stop was Woodfield mall which is a gorgeous outside shopping mall. They have so many stores and Mere and I decided this was a great place to grab a gift for our friends who were hosting us! and also a perfect place to get some delicious waffles on a stick – because we were on vacation so why not.

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Santa Monica / Venice

The next day we explored Santa Monica and Venice. Santa Monica might be one of my favorite places in LA. It has an amazing beach and lots of restaurants and shopping. We spent the day hanging out at the pier, biking along the ocean and walking around the Venice canals.

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If you eat around here I highly recommend the Avocado toast at Little Ruby.

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Also in the Santa Monica area is an adorable restaurant called Lunetta where I met my friends Liz and Anna for dinner and drinks one night!

Museums – trying to be cultured

My Last day in LA I spend exploring with my friend Scott. We decided to get cultured and visit a few museums – mainly because we had free tickets haha. But before we did that we indulged in a delicious breakfast at République.

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Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation

I mainly went here to see Yayoi Kusama’s “With All my Love for The Tulips” exhibit, but I really enjoyed the whole museum (even though I don’t really understand art). Big thanks to my friend Liz for hooking me up with the tickets!!!

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LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

Next stop was the LACMA, which we unfortunately didn’t have time to go in, but this is such a classic LA pic – I couldn’t NOT do it. This is close to La Brea Tar Pits which is free to walk around, and close to the Grove!

The GROVE

The Grove is an awesome outdoor mall. If I lived here I would definitely spend way too much time here.

Before heading to the airport the next morning I got in one more food stop at ROSE. This place had great food, a great atmosphere AND has had several celebrity spotting if you’re into that! We saw Alfie Allen (aka. Theon Greyjoy) for all my Game of Thrones fans out there.

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Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed re-living my trip with me!!

XOXO